There are many books I treasure in my life but two biggies are Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard.
I am thrilled about the forty year anniversary promotion of one and then open The NY Review of Books to an article by Pico Iyer called The Return of The Snow Leopard.
I have read both books more times than I can count. I took The Snow Leopard with me to Nepal, where I spent six weeks, four of them in the mountains of the Everest area. It was one of the Bibles I brought with me and I savored those Matthiessen words by flashlight in my tent. If you haven't read it, do so. If you have, read it again. There is so much I could quote from this article, from the book, and so I simply say,
"I grow into these mountains like a moss. I am bewitched."
Yes, the photo is of Yosemite, not Everest. My journey is now closer to home.